As The Tour de France has just finished and we can start celebrating the success of Chris Froome, now twice winner of the competition and the first British man to accomplish this, I thought readers might be getting withdrawal symptoms. So I have dipped into our archives to see what they might say about Wiltshire and Swindon’s connection to cycle racing. Cycling fever most recently came to Wiltshire in 2014 when the Tour of Britain passed through the county, including British riders Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish. There are also many clubs and individuals who put on the lycra and take to the road, which puts me to shame as I can barely pump the tyres up on my bike these days. But our earliest references go back certainly to the 1890s.

An illustration of the opening of the Trowbridge Cycle Club cycle track appears in the Kings Quarterly magazine, 1891, no. 8, for seemingly no other reason that the illustrator happened to be just passing through. However, it gives us a useful starting date and it is accompanied by illustrations of the committee men, who were Mr Mackay, President; Mr DP Wise, Vice President; and two honorary secretaries, Mr George Rose and Mr Ernest Williams (presumably a mistake, where one of them was Treasurer). The Swindon Cycle Club was also established at least during the 1890’s, as in 1897 they submitted plans to extend their club building in Dixon Street, New Swindon, even though the building already contained everything a club needed. It included an assembly room, a kitchen and a cellar, a skittles alley and, of course most essential of all back then, a bar.

The Swindon Wheeler’s Cycle Club was established in 1923 for a potted history go to this link http://swindonwheelers.wix.com/swindonwheelers . At the History Centre we are delighted to be the custodian of the club’s archives, which date back to 1924. The club was established to “promote road-racing, touring and social club runs.” The subscription was 4 shillings and activities included a run to Cycle Show in Olympia; a charabanc outing to Weston Super Mare; and, perhaps this should have been earlier, a map reading competition. Rules included that when road riding, “the captain shall have complete command and no rider shall pass without his permission”; with two sections being formed – a fast section and a ‘social’ section; while during time-trials “every competitor must carry a bell on the handlebars of his machine” (there does not seem to be any references at this stage to women riders).

A fundamental part of the Lacock Community Archive project has been recording the memories of local residents through oral history interviews. Oral history is a fantastic method of discovering stories that have remained hidden or missed from traditional historical methods. These memories have ranged from hiding American soldiers from the Military Police in the basement of the Red Lion to Mrs Murray (local schoolteacher) who opened her front window curtains so the local children could watch their favourite television programmes. These vibrant and wonderful memories encapsulate a village community that is often overlooked by the vast number of tourists that flock to the Abbey.

I recently spent a week at the History Centre in Chippenham for my work experience. On Monday 29th June, our first day, a course was planned that we would research the village of Lacock and study how it has been developed and also why certain bits have remained the same as the 1500s when they have not survived in other places. We looked at a selection of maps, old house plans and books and answered a list of questions which were relevant and would help us develop our knowledge further about Lacock. In the afternoon, we went to Lacock and had a tour round studying important buildings, the structure of buildings and looked at the features of the church and any old features which still remain. We arrived back at the History Centre at around half past four after a tiring day but I would recommend the course to anyone thinking about doing it as you learn a lot about the village itself, but you can also apply this knowledge to other places you visit which have the same or similar features.

On the second day, we were given an introduction to the Wiltshire Community History website with Mike Marshman and were able to look at all of the parishes which they have covered and written information about. I was assigned the parish of Milston to research and having never heard of it, was looking forward to finding out new information and having a challenge. On the Tuesday afternoon, I continued to research Milston and look at things such as its church, roads, and buildings and also the Domesday Book which I had never looked much into therefore I found that particularly interesting.

Wilsford Manor was renovated by architect Detmar Blow in 1898 following a commission by Lord Glenconner and Lady Pamela Tennant. It was built of knapped flint and grey Tisbury stone in the local 17th century style with gables and mullioned windows modelled on the nearby Lake House, which was also renovated by Detmar Blow in 1897 (under advisement from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings).

Image of Lake House – inspiration for Wilsford Manor with its chequerwork pattern.

Wilsford Manor was left to Pamela, Stephen’s mother by Lord Glenconner, and all the children grew up there with their step-father Edward, Viscount Grey of Falloden. It became a retreat for the family and an escape from the London summer season for Pamela. The childhood of Stephen Tennant was recorded in ‘The Sayings of the Children’.

After the loss of her eldest son Edward (Bim) in the Battle of the Somme, Pamela turned to spiritualism. Along with neighbour, and developer of wireless technology, Sir Oliver Lodge, she developed séance techniques and held spiritualist gatherings at Wilsford.

After Bim’s death, the bond between Stephen and his mother grew, further developed by Stephen’s emerging talent for poetry and art. Aged just 13, Stephen published humorous drawings of ducks and swans, frogs and nets, owls and dragonflies in ‘The Bird’s Fancy Dress Ball’.

After his mother’s death in 1928, Wilsford was left to Stephen’s older brother David, who planned to sell it. A deal was arranged between David and Stephen’s trustees and for all intents and purposes, Wilsford became Stephen’s.

The phrase ‘Women in Country Life’ conjures up ladies of the manor showing off their stately homes in Country Life, the magazine which published photographs of their marriageable daughters. It also reflects the back-breaking toil of most rural women down the centuries.

In Medieval and Early Modern life women were prized as heiresses because family lands passed through them to the next generation. The custom of primogeniture, the inheritance of family manors and estates by the eldest male heir became established in the century after the Norman Conquest. Women were the glue in the feudal system, giving birth to the next generation of male heirs for their husbands’ families. When their own families died out in the male line, women as co-heiresses – the sisters or daughters of a deceased lord – carried their estates to new families when they married. This was also true for the peasants. By the 16th century farms were generally leased out for three lives. In the absence of male relatives, women’s names were added to the lease to transfer the property down the generations. A new life could be added at any time – for a fee – as births, marriages and deaths changed the family structure.

The manor and its courts organised agricultural labour. Manor court rolls and books record the names of the lord or lady of the manor who received the profits from the land, and the tenants who rented farms and grazing rights on the common fields and pastures. The lord of the manor had the right to prove tenants’ wills and a surprising number are found in court records – a treasure trove for the family historian!

Join the Wiltshire Council Archaeologists for two free guided archaeology walks. This year we are celebrating the annual Festival of British Archaeology by organising walks in two archaeologically rich and exciting locations.

In the morning of Saturday 11th July Rachel Foster, Assistant County Archaeologist will be leading a guided archaeological walk up to the fabulous Iron Age hillfort at Oldbury near Cherhill and across the Cherhill Downs. You get a chance to see the multiple and well preserved ramparts, the location of the Iron Age settlement, the Cherhill White Horse and Lansdowne Monument. From the top of the hill you will experience the fantastic panoramic landscape views and Rachel will point out and discuss key archaeological features such as Roman roads, the Wansdyke and Silbury Hill.